Please turn to 1 Peter 1:4. We started looking at this a little bit last week, and I would like to go back there again. I will read the first several verses. We read in 1 Peter 4:1-7:
Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
I will stop reading there. We may try to get a little further than this today, but we are going to take a look at this passage and try to understand it, as much as we can. Again, let us go to 1 Peter 4:1, where it says:
Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind…
Jesus, we know, suffered in the flesh. We know that He died for the sins of His people. He entered into the human race, He became a man, and He took upon Himself the sins of His people. He did not take upon Himself the sins of every single human being, but just His elect, those whom God chose from before the foundation of the world to obtain salvation.
Jesus suffered on the Cross. He suffered a whipping. He suffered a crown of thorns. He suffered all kinds of assaults, physically. But, really, when the Bible talks about the Cross of Christ, when the Bible has in view that Jesus suffered for the sins of His people, it really is looking at the truth that Jesus experienced the equivalent of an eternal damnation for those whom He came to save.
Equivalent means that it is “equal to.” So Jesus suffered, and His suffering was equal to all those whom He came to save spending forever in Hell. God measured the “cup” of His wrath out to that degree and gave it to Christ, and Christ drank it dry. He drank of the “cup” of God’s wrath and He did go through Hell in a very real way—not the place called Hell, but the experience of Hell—as He suffered for sin.
Why suffer? Because God’s Law says that there is a “wage” for sin; there is a penalty for sin, and that is death. Yet it is talking about the “second death” of eternal damnation.
This is what Jesus suffered, and yet God says to us, “Arm yourselves.” Why do people take up arms today? They do this because they want protection; they want a defense of some kind; they want safety. Of course, there is no real safety or protection or defense in trusting in the weapons of the world, but there is in God, in Christ.
So we arm ourselves with the “mind” that was in Jesus. We arm ourselves with the knowledge of how we are to live in this world as a Christian. We are not to be ignorant of what is going on in the world and what our expectation will be as we live in this world. Jesus told us, “In the world ye shall have tribulation;” we will suffer.
We looked at a verse last week in Philippians 1:29, which says:
For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
This is the idea that God is talking about. It is a gift of faith. If you are one of God’s elect, you receive the gift of faith—but you also receive in that salvation package the gift of suffering. What kind of gift is that? This is the gift that we do not want. This is the gift that we certainly would rather do without, yet it is part of being a Christian.
Really, if we do not suffer for Christ, then we have to ask ourselves the question, “Am I living as a child of God? Am I really living as a Christian?” If there is no affliction or persecution, then there is probably something wrong with the way that we are living our lives. So God tells us to “arm yourselves likewise with the same mind.”
Let us turn to Philippians 2:5-8:
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
You see, Jesus suffered “the death of the cross.” Not only “death,” God says, but “the death of the cross”—something that He is really using as a synonym for eternal damnation.
In order for Jesus to do the will of God, He had to suffer Hell for the sake of His people, because it was God’s will that Christ enter into the world and that He save a people for Himself. Jesus did this because He did everything out of obedience to the will of the Father, out of obedience to the will of God.
This is why in 1 Peter 4:1, it says:
…arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
Jesus was without sin. He was obedient. Because He had to take up the Cross, it was necessary that He have no sin.
It is also necessary that if we are going to follow in His steps and if we are going to follow the pattern that He established, that we also be obedient to the Word of God and that we keep His commandments. As we do so, this will result in suffering.
There are two kinds of suffering in the world. There is suffering for God and there is suffering for our sin. There actually could also be other types of suffering that enter in because God brings things upon the just and the unjust, so there are earthquakes and things of this nature. But really, as we are living our lives, we are going to experience suffering in our lives. No one can avoid this.
I do not know anyone who has been able to live any length of time in this world and not be touched by tragedy or pain, whether it be physical or emotional or spiritual. I do not know anyone who lives in this world who does not weep or cry or mourn. There is suffering.
There is definite suffering in this world as the result of the fall of man. As sin entered into the world, there is all kinds of misery; there is all kinds of trouble. If we go a week without some kind of affliction touching us, we count ourselves privileged. It is a privilege to go even a week without suffering.
As far as different kinds of suffering, God speaks of suffering on His behalf and suffering because of our sins in the same chapter in 1 Peter 4. Look at 1 Peter 4:12-14:
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
You can see how God is telling us that there is suffering for Christ’s sake and that we are to be “partakers of Christ’s sufferings.” I do not want to lose the direction that we are heading in, but what this is saying is that we still have a job to do. We still have a mission to accomplish and a task to perform, which is to carry the Gospel to the world.
Of course, then the world is going to love us for it. No! The world is not going to love us because we are bringing them the Gospel. The world would rather that they never encounter us at all. As they approach us standing on a corner with a tract or as we share a personal testimony in the family or in the neighborhood, however the Gospel is brought to the world, we are not going to be viewed in a positive way but, in all likelihood, in a very negative way. There can be assaults that come against us for the Gospel’s sake.
In as far as being faithful to the Word of God in the message that we are bringing, as well as in the way in which we bring it, if we are having our conversation, our conduct, honest amongst the Gentiles, amongst the people of the world, then there can be reviling in turn and they can cast out our name as “evil,” as the Bible says, and they can separate us from their company. There are all manner of attacks that Satan is able to stir up amongst those who are in his kingdom to come against the child of God.
But as long as we are doing it God’s way and we are being faithful to the Gospel message, then rejoice. Rejoice at that time and be glad, “for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” We can, in the tiniest, smallest degree, experience or partake of the suffering of Christ.
Jesus died the “second death” of eternal damnation. We do not know what that was like or how awful it was to be in an agony to the degree that He was in, but we do know that He died that death for the elect. We also, now, go forth with the Gospel for the elect’s sake.
Turn to 2 Timothy 2, where the Apostle Paul, writing under the inspiration of God, as all of the Bible is written in this way, says in 2 Timothy 2:9-12:
Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. It is a faithful saying: for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: if we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
You see, Paul is saying that he will endure the afflictions “for the elect’s sakes.” This is how we can be “partakers.” Jesus paid the penalty for their sin. It is guaranteed that the “great multitude” will be saved. God has a methodology in achieving this goal by bringing His Word to them so that they can hear and be saved, and this is through the body of believers.
So we go with the Gospel. We use our resources—our money, our time—to bring the Gospel, and these people will become saved. But, as a response, when God opens up a “door of utterance,” there are many adversaries. This goes hand-in-hand. There are going to be those who are going to come against the people of God. This is our expectation. We know this. We realize this. So we can share in the ministry of the Gospel and partake in Jesus’ sufferings, as we carry the Gospel message to the world, obediently.
But then going back to 1 Peter 4, God also has a warning or an admonition here in 1 Peter 4:15:
But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.
You see, there is suffering for sin, is there not? This is because sin gets us unto trouble. For example, when someone becomes a drunk, they can make a mess of things. They can make a mess of their job, their family, and their finances. It is just compounding all of the problems that they have. They are drinking to escape them, but the problems just increase. You can look at all kinds of sins. They are just going to bring heartache and pain and trouble. Another example is adultery in a marriage. Then comes divorce and the children are grieved because their parents have split.
You can see how sin brings suffering in the world, and you do not have to be a Christian to experience this suffering. It comes into anyone’s life. Yet God is saying to those who call themselves “Christian,” if they suffer—and they will suffer one way or the other in the world; they will not escape it—suffer for that which is right, that which is good, that which is holy, that which is just. Suffer for the Word of God. Suffer for Jesus’ sake and not for yourself—not for yourself.
Do not suffer because of your mouth, for example. You are a Christian, yet you keep saying things that offend people. You think that you are bringing the Gospel message, but the Gospel is not the offense, your mouth is the offense. So you have to watch what you say and watch how you behave, as you are ministering the Word and speaking to people. You have to be kind and gentle. “The servant of the Lord must not strive,” the Bible tells us. We can not try to force the Gospel on anyone.
So God is just warning us that we could have problems in our lives that result in suffering, but we are not to think that just because we are a Christian, all of our suffering is pleasing to God. It is not thankful in any way if we are suffering because of our own sin. Many people get confused by this.
There are also many who are false Christians—like Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons or many who profess the name of Christ—who think that they are suffering for God. They think that they are suffering for the Gospel, yet they are really suffering for their own sin. It could be doctrinal sin or it could be misunderstanding what the Bible is saying, yet they are suffering and it is not pleasing to God in any way.
It goes on to say in 1 Peter 4:16:
Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
This is what we want to do. We want to suffer for Christ. We want to suffer as a Christian, then we can jump for joy and then we can rejoice and be happy.
One thing to take note of concerning all that we are reading in this chapter is what we read in 1 Peter 4:17. It says:
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God…
You can see how God has placed this verse, which I think that many of us are familiar with, in the setting of suffering for the cause of the Gospel, suffering for Christ, and suffering for the Word of God. This is also in the setting of realizing that the people are going to be against you and revile you and hate you, and so forth.
This is because God is fully aware—He knows the end from the beginning—that in the days of the Great Tribulation, when judgment does begin “at the house of God,” there is going to be even more reviling, even more reproach for His Name, as His people come out of the churches. As they leave the congregations, they are going to be said, blasphemingly, to be doing “that which is evil” and that they are just following a man. It will also be said that they are being deceived. All kinds of things will be said against the people of God during the final days of the Great Tribulation.
God puts this verse in this context so that we will be forewarned to arm ourselves with the proper mind and not be surprised or shocked or marvel that this is the attitude of many. This will not even be the attitude of many out there in the world, but from those in the church whom we had previously called, “Brethren.” They will think this of us, and we will begin to be viewed as a renegade.
Yet in this, too, we can partake in Christ’s sufferings, because He was thought to be “Beelzebub” by the church of His day, national Israel. So we can also share in this with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, you see, God says in 1 Peter 4:1:
…arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
We are still “in the flesh,” and we still have a body that sins, but in order for us to take up our cross and follow Him, as the Bible commands us repeatedly to take up the cross and to follow Jesus, we have to do so obediently. We have to do so in accord with the Law of God, with what the Bible says. So true suffering, or living like a true Christian, is suffering out of obedience to the Law of God.
Going on in 1 Peter, we read in 1 Peter 4:2-4:
That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
You see, the world has its way of living, and we have lived in the world, most of us. Some children have been brought up with the Gospel, but most of us have come from the world. We grew up living as the world lives and doing things as the world does them. God could even be calling someone today and drawing them out of this kind of lifestyle.
This is exactly how it is. Is this not an apt description of what takes place when someone has been going their own way, the way of the world, the “broad” way “that leadeth to destruction”? They have been going this way happily, a lot of times. In their ignorance, they have just been following whatever the people around them are doing. On weekends, they drink and they just seek after pleasure. All of the time spent during the week is spent on what they want for themselves, how to please themselves, what desires they want to fulfill, what lusts they want to go after.
This is the way of the world, yet God comes and, amazingly, He just comes with His Word, and His Word can reach man in a thousand different ways—maybe it is through the radio, maybe it is through the Internet, maybe it is through a tract. He just decides to pull this person and that person, and He begins drawing them to Himself. Suddenly, they find themselves reading the Bible and understanding the Bible and realizing what the Bible says. They understand that if they continue on in the way that they are going, they are going to go to Hell, and they are going to be in Hell, for ever and ever. They are going to end up in the pit of Hell, eternally.
So God commands and He says, “Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions.” Later, we realize that God has to give us this strength and this ability to “repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.”
Yet someone begins to hear these things and to become aware of them, so they begin withdrawing from their friends because their friends are still going that way same. Their friends want to go to the bar or they want to go to the ballgame on Sunday. But the child of God realizes, “I can not go to the bar. That is not pleasing to God.” Then he learns more and realizes, “I can not even go to the ballgame on Sunday, because that is the Lord’s Day; that is God’s Holy Day.” Maybe he shares this with his friends, but they do not understand. They have no idea what happened to him and they think, “He is losing it. He is crazy or something.”
Point after point after point, as we learn what the Bible says and we want to do things God’s way, we begin to go the way of the Lord Jesus Christ—and that is going away from the people of the world. So “they think it strange.” It is a “strange” thing to them. They just do not see it. “You are going to do what on Friday and Saturday night? You are going to stay home, with the TV off, and you are going to read your Bible and pray? Where is the excitement in doing that? Where is the fun? Where is the pleasure? Where is the ‘satisfying of the flesh’?” Well, they do not say this, but this is what they are really thinking. “You are going to do that? That is strange. That is strange!”
You see, those of us who came “from the world” understand, to some degree, the world’s mindset, because it was our mindset. We realize the way that the world thinks. This is, yet, how God works with those that He is dealing with and with one of His elect.
These people, our friends and family, would still encourage us, though, “Drop that Book. Drop that Book. Forget the Bible! Stop doing this. You are not living anymore. You are not living. You are not enjoying yourself anymore.”
This is what they think, and they would encourage us to continue on in sin with them. They would encourage us not to deny ourselves, as Jesus commands that we do, “Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” They say, “No, do not deny yourself. Fill your desires. Have what you want.” Yet Jesus says, “If any…hate not…his own life also, he cannot be My disciple,” and, “Whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it.”
This is what the world is trying to do. They are trying to save their earthly life, their worldly life. The one who saves that life, will lose life eternally. That man will perish. So here in 1 Peter 4:4, they are “speaking evil of you” and encouraging you to go away from God.
Yet, look at 1 Peter 4:5:
Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
God put this verse here for a reason. This is because we have to think, “Is that person who is encouraging me in sin going to take my place on Judgment Day? Is he going to stand there in my stead and give account to God for this sin that he is encouraging me to do?”
No way, no way! They will encourage us in sin. They will encourage us to continue on in the direction that they are going, but they are not going to pay the penalty for sin. They are not going to suffer the consequences of our sin, as it tells us here in 1 Peter 4:5:
Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
God wants us to think, to think ahead, to think to that Final Day when He is seated upon His throne and when all men will have to “give account.” “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
So the child of God begins to fear and he tells his friends, “I am not going to offend God in this way. I am sorry that I can not do this with you. I am sorry that I can not go with you and share in this with you any longer, but really, it is a dangerous thing. It is a very dangerous thing to continue on in sin. I just can not do it anymore.”
Then we read in 1 Peter 4:6:
For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead…
This is talking about the spiritually dead. We do not go to the cemetery and preach the Gospel to those who are physically dead. There is no use in doing this. It will not be of any help to anyone.
…preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
The Gospel comes and it draws this one and it draws that one and it brings them out from the midst of all kinds of people, and those people will not understand why you are not with them anymore. They are going to view you, a child of God, as a traitor.
Really, honestly, we have betrayed the dark kingdom. We have turned our backs on the dominion of Satan and all of those who are within his power, in the sense that now we have been translated into the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, into the Kingdom of Light, and we want to serve God. So we could agree, yes, in a sense, we have betrayed them. But really, God is the Creator. He is the One who created us and He is the One to be served. So we desire to do things God’s way, yet we will be “judged according to men in the flesh.”
There is no getting around this. We are going to be judged. We are going to be judged by man. What kind of judgment will they judge? Look at Matthew 5:10-12:
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Or turn to Luke 6:22-23:
Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
We can see how God is saying that that they will reproach, revile, hate, and “cast your name as evil.” Your name and my name, you can fill your name in that spot if you want, if you are a true child of God. They shall “cast out your name as evil” and will “separate you from their company.” After awhile, when you are “having your conversation honest,” it is the light of the Gospel, to a small degree, that can begin to shine, and it is convicting, so they do not want to be around you. They do not want to spend time with you, so they will “separate you from their company.”
Actually, the language here is similar to the language of God’s judgment upon the sinner, where God hates the sinner. God will cast out the sinner, eternally, into Hell. God is going to judge the sinner, and this is what God is saying in 1 Peter 4. When you, when I, when children of God live as Christians, we will face man’s judgment. We will “be judged according to men in the flesh,” so this should be our expectation.
Now let us look at 1 Corinthians 4:3. Again, the Apostle Paul is being moved to write these words by God:
But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.
It is an extremely small thing what people think about us, what men think about us. If we are living rightfully or in accord with the Bible, if God is moving in us “to will and to do of His good pleasure” where we are trying to live as a Christian in this world, the result will be that we are partaking of Christ’s suffering. People are going to think that we are strange. They will think that we are crazy. They will think that we are foolish. People will just think whatever they are going to think.
What is our response? We say, “So what?” Really and honestly, we can say, “So what? You are a man. You are a human being. You are a creature. You were made by a Creator. It is not your thoughts that I fear. It is not your will that I am afraid of. It is not what you can do to me that makes me tremble, but it is God.”
You see, we have to compare whose favor we want. Do we want the favor of man, the favor of the world? We can seek after that. We can go after that, and the world would welcome us back with open arms. The world loves its own. It loves its own. You want to go back to the world? Go ahead, and the world will be there waiting.
Of course, this love affair with the world is very temporal. It only lasts for a short season, and then the world passes away and the lusts thereof. Then you are left all alone on Judgment Day, standing before an angry God to give account for your sin, and there will be terrible Hell to pay for your sin. Yet this is a direction that we can go in.
Or, God says that we can fear Him. We can fear Him, the One who is able to destroy both body and soul in Hell, forever. Fear Him and fear His Judgment.
This is the believer’s mindset and this is why the believer can go and stand on a street corner and pass out tracts. Believe me, it is a very humbling thing. It is an extremely humbling thing when you stand on a street corner, especially if you have been in the world and you know how individuals who stand on street corners are viewed by the world.
You stand there with a tract and you know that anything is possible. Any kind of comment can be directed towards you, any kind of assault or attack. Yet this doctor, this lawyer, this person, whatever job, whatever profession, whatever they look like, we are no respecter of persons. We do not care if they are young or old. We do not care if they are beautiful or not so beautiful. We do not care what they look like, where they come from in this world, or what they do. They are all the same. They are sinners who need to hear the Gospel message.
By God’s grace, we want to share this message with them, even though there could be reproach as a result. Yet this is our calling. This is what we are to do with our time. This is why we are still here, because there is a “great multitude” that God is going to save and we can partake, in the littlest bit, with Christ’s suffering.
Let us just read one last verse here in 1 Peter 4. We read in 1 Peter 4:7 a verse that is very fitting for our day:
But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
We realize this. We realize that we are close to the end of time. We are close to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are close to the end of all things, so time is short and we really need to, by God’s grace, take up our cross and follow Him. Take the Gospel. Take the message, and do so obediently to God’s Word. Do not be afraid of any potential suffering. Just leave that in God’s hands.
God will get the Gospel out. God will save these people with or without us, and time is going to continue moving on and passing, no matter which way we go. There will come the time when our life will be over, so may God give us strength and may He give us the desire to do things His way, as we continue to live day-by-day.